Self-contained setter board



Jan. 28, 1969 I of 5 Sheet Filed Oct. 22, 1965 FIG] n v N NN EA VI. NK An L u A P ATIORNEYSW Jan. 28, 1969 P. A, KLA'NN 3,425,010

SELF-CONTAINED SETTER BOARD Filed Oct. 22, 1965 Sheet 2 of 5 L6 INVENTOR PAUL A. KLANN AW, We

Z4... 1 AW TORNEYS P. A. KLANN SELF-CONTAINED SETTER BOARD Jam zs, 1969 Filed Oct. 22, 1965 FIGS INVENTOR PAUL A. KLANN 1 W M, BY M y W ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,425,010 SELF-CONTAINED SETTER BOARD Paul A. Klann, P.0. Box 2398, Waynesboro, Va. 22980 Filed Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 501,288 US. Cl. 335--122 4 Claims Int. Cl. H01h 67/06 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A setter board comprising a frame and a contact panel member mounted thereon, first contact means secured to one side of said panel, second contact means movably mounted on said frame adjacent said first contact means, blocking means movably secured to said panel and selectively movable into and out of interposed blocking relation between said first and second contact means and drive means connected to said second contact means to move said second contact means into and out of engagement with said first contact means which are not blocked by said blocking means.

The present invention relates generally to improvements in the art of organs. More specifically, the improvement lies in a self-contained setter board arrangement whereby any desired combination of stops may be chosen and grouped together for simultaneous operation so that upon sequential operation of several push buttons or manual pistons the organist may switch from one combination of stops to another with accuracy and speed without interrupting the musical composition being played.

This invention provides a setter board having a matrix of electrical contacts, one set of contacts being fixed whereas the other set of contacts is movable to and from engagement with the fixed set of contacts. Insulating blocking means may be selectively interposed at each contact point whereby upon operation of the set of movable contacts certain of these contacts will provide a signal to control a plurality of stop tabs to an on position. The interposable means are manually movable between a contact preventing position and a second position allowing a movable contact to engage a fixed contact. A plurality of remote piston members are selectively operable to control power means for moving selective sets of movable contacts into engagement with the fixed contacts to provide various combinations of stops.

-In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the self-contained setter board and the remote piston arrangement for controlling the setter board;

FIGURE 2 is a rear view of the front panel of the selfcontained setter board;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the rocker actuating mechanism viewed along line 33 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of the rocker arms taken along the line 44 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a partial rear view of the front panel of the setter board showing the specific details of the contact strips and blocking means;

FIGURE 6 is a partial sectional view of the manually actuated block-ing means taken along the line '6-6 in FIG- URE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a blocking member and its associated contact strip;

FIGURE 8 is a partial rear view of the front panel of the setter board showing a modification of the blocking means;

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view taken along the line 99 in FIGURE 8; and

FIGURE 10 is a partial rear view of the setter board showing an intermediate position of the arrangement shown in FIGURE 8.

3,425,010 Patented Jan. 28, 1969 More specifically, the drawings show a self-contained setter board for use with an electro-pneumatic organ comprising a housing having a faceplate having a plurality of rows and columns of holes therein, a lurality of pairs of elongated electrical contact strips mounted on said panel, one on each side of each column of holes, a plurality of blocking lever means pivotally mounted on the rear face of said panel adjacent to and below each hole and adapted to overlie said holes, a pin mounted on each of said blocking levers and projecting through said holes, head means on the free ends of said pins, support brackets mounted on the rear face of said panel parallel to said strips, a plurality of rockers pivotally mounted on said brackets transversely of said strips, a plurality of contact fingers secured to and depending from said rockers in alignment with said strips, means for oscillating said rockers from a position wherein the fingers are remote from said strips to a position where said fingers contact said strips, said blocking lever means adapted to be pivoted to a position overlying an adjacent contact strips to prevent contact of a finger with its respective con-tact strip upon pivoting of the said rockers.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the self-contained setter board 12 is comprised of a housing 14 having a front panel 16. A plurality of horizontally disposed elongate-d slots 18 are arranged in columns and rows through said front panel. The plurality of control knobs 20 project from each slot for a purpose to be explained hereinafter. A remote panel 22, which would ordinarily be mounted adjacent the action of an electro-pneumatic organ has a plurality of pistons 24 slidably mounted therein for reciprocating motion to control a plurality of rockers mounted on the self-contained setter board. The cable 26 interconnects the piston contacts (not shown) and the rocker actuating means of the setter board. The cable 28 connects the various contacts of the self-contained setter board with the various stops to be controlled thereby.

On the rear of the front panel 1'6 a pair of sup port brackets 30, 32 (FIGURE 2) are mounted in vertical parallel relation to each other. Each support bracket has a outwardly extending flange member 34, 36 having openings therein for journaling the rods 38 for oscillating movement therein. Secured over each rod member 38 is a U shape rocker arm 40 having downwardly depending flange. An elongated contact member 42 having a plurality of downwardly depending contact fingers 44 is mounted within the U-shape rocker arm by means of a mounting bar 46. The lower end of each of the depending fingers 44 has a turned up corner designated at 48. Surrounding each of the rods at one end thereof is a coil spring 50 secured at one end to a support bracket and at the other end to said rod to bias the rod member for rotation in a direction which will move the contact fingers 44 away from the front panel 16. At the opposite end of each rod 38 an electromagnet 52 having a core 54 is secured to its respective support bracket by means of a mounting plate (FIGURE 3) 56. The rod 38 extends through the support bracket parallel to said armature and has a lever 66 secured to the end thereof for oscillation in a plane adjacent the end of the electromagnet remote from the support bracket. The plate 58 mounted on core 54 of the electromagnet has an arm 60 radially directed therefrom having a pin 62 mounted on the end thereof in bearing relationship to the top surface ofthe lever 66 when the magnet is not energized. A stop pin 64 is mounted on the plate 58 on the opposite side of lever member 66 from the pin 62. Thus upon energization of the electromagnet 52 the lever 66 is attracted to the core 54 and shifts from the full line position in FIGURE 3 where it abuts pin 62 to the dotted line position where it abuts pin 64. Upon pivotal movement of the lever 66 in a clockwise direction as 3 viewed in FIGURE 3 the' rod 38 will rotate to bring the depending. contact fingers 44 into engagement with the rear of the front panel 16.

A plurality of pairs of inlaid contact strips 68 are disposed in parallel vertical relationship on the rear surface of the front panel 16. The strips of each pair are disposed on opposite sides of and adjacent to a column of slots 18. As viewed in FIGURE 5 each strip to the left of a slot 18 has a terminal member 70 to which is connected a "lead wire 72. A plurality of blocking lever members 74 are pivotally mounted on the rear face of front panel 16 upon a pivot pin 76 directly below each slot 18. In this way each blocking lever member overlies its respective slot 18 and may be pivoted into and out of superimposed relation with the contact strip 68 immediately to the left thereof as viewed in FIGURE 5. Each blocking lever member has a beveled surface 78 which is adapted to cooperate with the turned up corner 48 of the contact member to allow the lever member to slide between a contact finger and the corresponding contact strip.

A pin member 80 (FIGURE 6) is integrally formed with each blocking lever member 74 and extends through the corresponding slot 18 and has a knob 20 secured thereto on the front surface of the front panel 16.

Therefore in operation the organist will be able to set up a predetermined number of combinations on the self-contained setter board dependent upon the number of rod members mounted on the rear surface of the faceplate. In the construction shown in FIGURE 5 only a single contact is needed to control a single stop member, that is, a signal is required to place the stop tablet in on condition and no signal is required to place the stop tab in off condition. Therefore the operator will set the lever members by means of knobs 20 which correspond to a rod member 38 to either the left hand position or the right hand position as viewed in FIGURE 5. When the lever is set to the right hand position the contact finger 44 upon rotation of its associated rod member will move towards the front panel 16 and engage the respective contact strip 68 which is connected to the lead 72. On the other hand, if the lever 74 has been pivoted to the left the contact finger 44 will be prevented from making contact with its associated contact strip 68 and no signal will be transmitted to the stop tab thereby causing the stop tab to remain in the off position. Each piston 24 is adapted to operate contacts (not shown) which will control the energization of a magnet 52 whereby upon depression of a single piston member a solenoid 52 will be energized to rotate its associated rocker to bring contacts 44 into engagement with the contact strips 68 which do not have a blocking lever superimposed thereon in blocking position. The contact member 42 is connected to a source of power and the leads 72 are connected to a stop tab actuating means which in turn are connected to ground whereby upon completion of the circuit through the contacts 44 and 68 the respective stop tabs will be actuated to the on position.

In some instances the stop tab will require a signal for both the on and the o positions. In this case, the blocking lever members and contact strips 68 are set up according to the modifications shown in FIGURES 8-10. In this modification each blocking lever member 74 is provided with two beveled surfaces 78 and 79 and the lever member may be pivoted to overlie the contact strip on either side of the pivot 76. Each of these contact strips 68 is connected to a lead wire 72 to transmit signals to the stop tabs control means. Thus when the lever member 74 is pivoted to the right, as viewed in FIGURE 8, the contact finger 44 is enabled to contact the contact strip to the left of the pivot 76 thereby enabling the signal to be transmitted to the stop tab actuating means to shift the stop tab to the on position. In this position the contact finger 44 to the right of pivot 76 is prevented from making contact with the associated contact strip 68 and no signal will be transmitted to the stop tab actuating means. When the lever member is shifted in the opposite direction a signal Will be applied to shift the stop tab to its off position. The lever member may be left in an intermediate position whereupon the beveled portions will overlie the contact strips on either side of the pivot 76 thereby preventing any signal from being transmitted to the respective stop tab actuating means.

It is understood, of course, that any number of control knobs and associated lever member may be utilized in a single row depending upon the number of stop tabs it is desired to control by means of a single piston member. Also, the number of piston rods and the associated pivoted rocker members with the contact fingers 44 may be greater or less than the number shown in the present application depending upon the number of preset combinations desired.

When the organist desires to preset a different combination for a particular piston 24 the operator need only to set the control knobs 20 to either the left or right along a particular row.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit this invention to the precise details of construction and operation herein shown and described, for various modifications within the scope of the appended claims may occur to persons skilled in the art. For example, instead of operating this unit electrically, it can be operated mechanically by flexible cables connected between the piston-s and rockers or by push buttons mounted directly over the rockers so as to cause movement of the pivoted rocker member.

What is claimed is:

1. A setter board comprising a frame and a contact panel member mounted thereon, first contact means secured to one side of said panel, second contact means movably mounted on said frame adjacent said first contact means, blocking means movably secured to said panel and selectively movable into and out of interposed blocking relation between said first and second contact means, drive means connected to said second contact means to move said second contact means into and out of engagement with said first contact means which are not blocked by said blocking means, said first contact means comprising a plurality of pairs of parallel elongated contact strips secured to one side of said panel, said second contact means comprising a plurality of resilient contact fingers aligned with said contact strips and secured to a pivotal rod member which extends transversely to said contact strips, said blocking means comprising a plurality of lever members pivotally mounted on the rear of said panel between each pair of contact strips, horizontally disposed elongated slot means between the contact strips of each pair, and manually operated means on the face of said panel connected to said lever members through said slot whereby a lever member may be pivoted to overlie the contact strip on either side of said slot.

2. A setter board according to claim 1 wherein the edge of said lever member is beveled to facilitate sliding movement between the contact strip and the second contact means.

3. A setter board according to claim 2 wherein said resilient contact fingers are electrically interconnected and have the free ends thereof bent to cooperate with the beveled edges of said lever members.

4. A setter board comprising a panel member having a plurality of rows and columns of elongated holes therein, a plurality of pairs of parallel, elongated electrical contact strips mounted on said panel, one strip of each pair being mounted on opposite sides of each hole, a plurality of lever means pivotally mounted on said panel adjacent each hole and adapted to overlie said holes, a pin mounted on each of said levers and projecting through said holes, head means on the free ends of said pins, sup port brackets mounted on said panel parallel to said strips, a plurality of rods pivotally mounted on said brackets transversely of said strips, a plurality of contact fingers 5 secured to and depending from said rod in alignment with said strips, means for oscillating said rods from a position wherein the fingers are remote from said strips to a position where said fingers contact said strips.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,771,841 7/1930 Buchheim 84-345 6 3,144,525 8/1964 Fenn et a1 200-46 3,152,247 10/1964 Brown 200-46 US. Cl. X.R. 

